Saturday, 15 July 2017

The famiLEE feud: Protest at Hong Lim Park

Organiser Gilbert Goh speaks to attendees at Hong Lim park during a protest to call for the "independent investigation into the allegations of abuse of power made by siblings Lee Weiling and Lee Hsien Yang against their brother Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong" in Singapore July 15, 2017. REUTERS/Edgar Su

Around 400 protesters gathered at Singapore’s Speakers’ Corner on Saturday calling for an independent inquiry into whether Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong abused his power in a battle with his siblings over what to do with their late father’s house.

The heirs of Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s long-serving first prime minister who died in 2015, are bitterly divided over whether to demolish the family home at 38 Oxley Road, or allow the government to decide if it should become a heritage site.

The public row in a family that stands at the heart of Singapore’s establishment raised uncomfortable questions in a city-state that prides itself on being a rock of stability in Southeast Asia.

Hong Lim Park Public Protest to call for investigation into allegations of PM Lee.

Public protest at Hong Lim Park, mooted by a group of Singaporeans who are concerned with a string of public social media postings by the two younger siblings with regard to the domestic spat on the demolition of Lee Kuan Yew’s house at 38 Oxley Road.

Organiser Gilbert Goh speaks to attendees at Hong Lim park during a protest to call for the "independent investigation into the allegations of abuse of power made by siblings Lee Weiling and Lee Hsien Yang against their brother Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong" in Singapore July 15, 2017. Source: Reuters/Edgar Su

AROUND 400 protesters gathered at Singapore‘s Speakers’ Corner on Saturday calling for an independent inquiry into whether Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong abused his power in a battle with his siblings over what to do with their late father’s house.

The heirs of Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore‘s long-serving first prime minister who died in 2015, are bitterly divided over whether to demolish the family home at 38 Oxley Road, or allow the government to decide if it should become a heritage site.

The public row in a family that stands at the heart of Singapore‘s establishment raised uncomfortable questions in a city-state that prides itself on being a rock of stability in Southeast Asia.

But organisers of Saturday's demonstration regarded a parliamentary debate earlier this month as a whitewash, after the prime minister declared that it had found no substantiated evidence to support his siblings' allegations that he had abused his power.

"The recent case between Lee Hsien Loong and his siblings is not just a matter of Lee Kuan Yew's will," Osman Sulaiman, a businessman and political activist, told the crowd. "There's an allegation of abuse of power. And this allegation doesn't come from any Tom, Dick or Harry. It came from the prime minister's siblings, who are privy to information that is not available publicly," Osman said to a smattering of applause and cheers.

The organisers want Singapore's president to commission an independent inquiry, and some of the later speakers switched focus to an upcoming election for the presidency.

Hundreds of Singaporeans staged a rare protest Saturday calling for an independent inquiry into a bitter family feud between Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his siblings.

Protest leader Gilbert Goh said he and his fellow supporters were calling for a more transparent government and for an independent inquiry to be set up to look into the allegations against the prime minister.

A banner hanging on a stage read: "Singapore belongs to Singaporeans and not to the Familee", referring to the Lee family, which has provided two out of three of Singapore's premiers in the five decades since independence.

Around 400 protesters gathered at Singapore's Speakers' Corner on Saturday calling for an independent inquiry into whether Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong abused his power in a battle with his siblings over what to do with their late father's house.

The heirs of Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's long-serving first prime minister who died in 2015, are bitterly divided over whether to demolish the family home at 38 Oxley Road, or allow the government to decide if it should become a heritage site.

The public row in a family that stands at the heart of Singapore's establishment raised uncomfortable questions in a city-state that prides itself on being a rock of stability in Southeast Asia.

Singapore was treated to a unprecedented show of unrivalled blow-by-blow account of a sibling spat that shook the country for close to three weeks.

Never have so many people switch so much to social media to watch the next FB post by any of the three royal siblings and many I believe would have burst their monthly data limit in order to catch the latest social media feed.

The central issue seems to be the family house and one wonders why the two younger siblings chose this time to mention about the demolition clause - they must have being sitting on edge for close to two years since the demise of their father to blow their top now.

Public protest on 15 July to call for investigation into allegations of PM Lee’s abuse of power

A public protest was mooted by a group of Singaporeans who are concerned with a string of public social media postings by the two younger siblings with regard to the domestic spat on the demolition of Lee Kuan Yew’s house at 38 Oxley Road.

There is the serious allegation on the abuse of power by our Prime Minister who has alarmingly used the full sway of Parliament to clear himself of any wrongdoing. Many also felt that the domestic spat should be settled outside of Parliament privately or in the court of law as our Parliament is a place for the discussion of national matters of importance and the demolition of a house seems to fall out of that domain even though it belongs to our former Prime Minister.

The PM’s insistence on not suing his siblings to clear his own name irked many Singaporeans who felt that there is a double standard here especially for the many who were sued earlier by the government for lesser charges.

Socio-political activist Gilbert Goh has organised a protest against the alleged abuse of power by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

This comes after the Lee Family Feud, in which the PM’s siblings accused him of abusing his position, giving his wife undue influence over the civil service, and attempting to build a “family cult”. And, not inviting them to reunion dinner during Chinese New Year.

The protest will be held on Saturday, 15 July, between 4pm and 7pm and Hong Lim Park.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday (Jun 27) said the allegations that his siblings continue to make about him are "mostly inaccurate".

In response to media queries on the Facebook posts from his brother & sister, PM Lee said: "My siblings continue to make allegations about what I supposedly did or did not do. They are mostly inaccurate. As I earlier said, I will be making a statement in Parliament on Jul 3, 2017. I will at that time deal with the allegations that need to be addressed."

PM Lee & his siblings, Mr Lee Hsien Yang and Dr Lee Wei Ling, have been locked in a public spat over their late father Lee Kuan Yew's home at 38 Oxley Road.

During a parliamentary debate that spanned almost 11 hours across 2 days, not one Member of Parliament (MP) — of the 29 who spoke —substantiated any allegations of abuse of power hurled against Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong by his siblings. In contrast, the Government has been shown to have “acted properly and with due process”, as PM Lee put it.

Wrapping up the debate that he had called for to address grave allegations levelled against him by Mr Lee Hsien Yang and Dr Lee Wei Ling, PM Lee said that facts and explanations have been put on the record, and Singaporeans have been given “a full account of how the Government works, and what the Government has done, in the case of 38 Oxley Road”.

He added: “The allegations have been aired, have been answered and rebutted. And people can see that there has been no abuse of power, by me or the Government. I hope that this 2-day debate has cleared the air and will calm things down.”

THE lengthy debate over allegations that PM Lee Hsien Loong had misused his authority regarding the fate of his family's Oxley Road home ended on Tuesday, with PM Lee stressing that the parliamentary session had sent a clear message to Singaporeans that there was no abuse of power by either him or the government.

Not a single member of parliament produced or alleged any additional facts or charges, or substantiated any of the allegations, he told the House in a speech to wrap up the debate.

PM Lee said that he & the government have "acted properly and with due process", adding that there was "no basis" to the allegations of abuse of power levelled against him by his younger siblings Lee Wei Ling & Lee Hsien Yang.

Singapore's PM says parliament finds no evidence of abuse of power in family row

At the end of an extraordinary two-day parliamentary debate on Tuesday, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong declared that it had found no evidence that he had abused his power in a dispute with his siblings over their late father's house.

"Even the opposition is not accusing the government of abuse of power," Lee said in an emotional speech, his voice quavering and eyes tearing up as he rued the breakdown in relations with his brother and sister.

Since mid-June, Singaporeans have been riveted by a public battle between the heirs of Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's long-serving first prime minister who died in March 2015, over whether to demolish the old family home or let the government decide whether it should become a heritage site.

Parliament wrapped up two days of debate on allegations of abuse of power over 38, Oxley Road, with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong saying there was no evidence to back claims that led to the sitting.

Singaporeans have been given a full account of how the Government works and what it has done in the case of the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew's house, and ministers have dealt with questions raised, he said.

PM Lee admitted it was unrealistic to hope the matter - which has gained international attention and affected the country's reputation - would be put to rest.read morePM Lee puts onus on MPs to provide evidence for abuse of power allegations: fair or deliberate attempt to circumvent siblings

From his remarks in Parliament today concerning the selection of the House as the forum to settle the Oxley Road feud between him and his siblings, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong appears to have placed the onus of proving whether the allegations against him have truth on the shoulders of Members of Parliament.

Stating that it is the responsibility of MPs to “get to the bottom of the issue,” PM Lee asserted that the allegations of abuse of power leveled against him have been answered in the two days of Parliamentary debate and asked, “What has been the outcome? No MPs have produced or alleged any additional facts or charges or substantiated any of the allegations.”

“If MPs believe that something is wrong, it is your job to pursue the facts and make those allegations in your name. And if you think something is wrong, even if you are not fully sure, then come into this House, confront the Government firmly, and ask for explanations and answers.

“If having heard the government, you are still not satisfied, then by all means demand a Select Committee or a Committee of Inquiry.

But the debate has produced no evidence of abuse of power, so why the need for a Select Committee or a COI, and “drag this out for months?”

He particularly called out Workers’ Party MPs for their statements on the matter, saying party leader Low Thia Khiang did not outrightly accuse the Government of wrongdoing or cited any concrete evidence to support the abuse of power claims, before pointing out that MP Png Eng Huat only repeated the PM’s siblings allegations but did not endorse any of them.read more